Francisco Goya's paintings have left a powerful imprint on the European imagination. It was undoubtedly Granados who best translated into music, with nobility and humour, this colourful universe where majos and majas dance to love and death in the twilight glow of a dying Ancien Régime.

Mike Paradinas, veteran producer and Planet Mu label owner has written a new album called ‘Grush' and it's full of weird bangers that reclaim the 'dance' part of the woeful term IDM. A back-to-first-principles record, inspired in part by the group of artists IDM was coined for; melodic dance music that didn't come out of urban scenes, but interpreted them from a distance.

Sofia Kourtesis has announced her debut album Madres will be released on 27 October on Ninja Tune. Madres is, unsurprisingly, dedicated to Kourtesis' mother. More surprising though it is also dedicated to world-renowned neurosurgeon Peter Vajkoczy. The story of how a world-renowned neurosurgeon came to appear in the liner notes of this record is one of tenacity, miracles, all-consuming love and ultimately, of hope.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Saito Kinen Orchestra, "Brahms: Symphony No. 1 & No. 2" and "R. Strauss: Don Juan" conducted by Nodoka Okisawa, Principal Guest Conductor of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival, was released in December 2024.

Neglecting two other émigrés and their works—five symphonies by Beethoven pupil Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838) that he composed for (and premiered at) the Philharmonic Society between 1813 and 1822, as well as the surviving fragments of four ambitious later pieces by Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) —Cipriani Potter emerges as the first England-based symphonic composer of Beethoven’s time. Potter would continue to foster the development of this tradition in London; for instance, through George Alexander Macfarren (1813–1887; nine symphonies, 1828–1874) and William Sterndale Bennett (1816–1875; five symphonies, 1832–1864), both students of his.

Pro double bass player / bass guitarist for 43 years and counting! Mainly classical ( full time contract with BBC Philharmonic since 1972), but also lots of jazz / big bands / tv and radio sessions / pop / funk / gypsy jazz / light entertainment / cabaret clubs / dance bands / function bands and so on.

Radio With/Out Voice is a provocative new album which reanimates John Cage’s enduring fascination with the medium of radio.

At the heart of ALIKE are powerful pairings of music by composers from countries often seen as adversaries—Russia and Ukraine, Iran and Israel.

As a symphonist, British composer, pianist, conductor and teacher Philip Cipriani Hambly Potter is at the height of his time. He makes use of an opulent orchestra, from whose palette he draws his colors with a strikingly bold stroke: Where one moment the heavy brass is steering through the surf, the next delicate flutes and tender strings are sounding, through dreamy scenes it is suddenly marching with heavy footwear, and when it comes to helping the works to an applause-worthy conclusion, all those involved have to push themselves to the limits of endurance … This attitude is as fascinating as it is entertaining - just the right middle ground between symphonic seriousness and nonchalant playfulness, a welcome facet of early Romantic literature like the lively concert piece that tastefully separates the two symphonies.

Sitting on the Moon is a new compilation and low-key statement of purpose for the long running, Brooklyn-based independent label Mexican Summer.

Hail to the hesitation. Hik is an old Icelandic word for hesitation. Hesitation is the moment of pause or delay before saying or doing something. It is a glimpse in time filled with uncertainty, even doubt. “A feeling of uncertainty, doubt or indecisiveness facing difficult decision or situation. A state of being reluctant or hesitant to act, speak, or make a choice.” This album is in many ways an ode to hesitation. It is composed by improvisation, and as a conversation between the violin and the organ, reacting and coexisting in sound and metrum. The feeling of hesitation is that glorious moment before playing on, lingering on an overtone or diving into next phrase. It can feel endless, wonderful, natural, weird, distressing or impossible, but mostly exciting, hopeful and mysterious.

For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgrds turns to some of the earliest of the composers orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartk, and many others.

Irish National Opera recently completed its tour of a pairing of operas by the exciting Irish composer Emma O’Halloran and librettist and playwright, Mark O’Halloran.

The Schumann Quartet is releasing its eighth album. "Martin – Ullmann – Fauré" will be published on August 15th by Berlin Classics and is a co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur. The string quartet, founded in Cologne in 2007, does not bear its name in honor of the composer Robert Schumann, but is named after the three brothers Erik, Ken, and Mark Schumann, who have been playing music together since childhood. Since 2022, the violist Veit Hertenstein has completed the ensemble. The renowned group has received numerous awards, including first prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Bordeaux. For this latest recording, the four musicians teamed up with the Berlin-based pianist Hinrich Alpers. Together, they focus on works by Frank Martin (1890–1974), Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944), and Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924).

Norwegian saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Harald Lassen returns with RIK, a vibrant and exploratory new album that picks up the threads of his acclaimed Balans - the album that earned him a Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) - and weaves them into something stranger, softer, and more surprising. “It’s the little brother,” Lassen says. “Same blood, same environment, but making different choices.”